Author Archives: Nick Halverson

Jan 15

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High Speed Internet Now Available!

It took several years, and lots of meetings and negotiations, but Las Villas de San Buenas now has DSL high-speed internet available!

ICE installing the internet and phone lines to Las Villas de San Buenas

We have always wanted to be able to offer this to our full-time

customers and our vacation renters, however, the fiber optic network never extended close enough to our entrance to make this a reality. Due to the small population of San Buenaventura (population ~ 400), neither ICE or CableTica were originally interested in connecting the town. However, the nearby elementary school was recently connected and given our proximity to the school we were able to extend the telephony network to our property. The speeds are great!

For those who enjoy streaming movies on Netflix you will be happy to know that Netflix Costa Rica has been available for over three years. In fact, Netflix Costa Rica has its own Facebook page! If you already have a Netflix account outside of Costa Rica it will probably not work in Costa Rica. You will need to sign up for an additional account with Netflix. However, for the price of an inexpensive meal, you will have access to 10,000s of movies, documentaries and specials.

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Dec 14

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We were fortunate to have the Hollis family visit us here at Las Villas de San Buenas for a week this month. They travelled from Bermuda and enjoyed the local wildlife, the beaches and all of the activities the Osa Peninsula has to offer.

They stayed in Casa Tinamou during their stay and appreciated the easy access from the Costanera Highway (1 mile). While looking at the views from Casa Lapas, two pairs of lapas flew overhead making the view even more spectacular (see photo below).

We look forward to them visiting again soon!

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Aug 14

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Nick Halverson Costa Rica Video Series

Part I in a new video series

Nick Halverson, the CEO of Las Villas de San Buenas, was recently interviewed by Brad Gudim where they briefly discussed Costa Rica real estate. This is the first of the Nick Halverson Costa Rica Video Series. He will be recording more videos each month and will share great information about owning and investing in Costa Rica real estate. This short video (about 10 minutes) provides some background information about Nick Halverson and why he has chosen to develop land in Costa Rica. (LinkedIn profile).

Nick has over nine years of buying, selling and developing land in Costa Rica’s Southern Pacific zone and will be putting on Costa Rica real estate seminars in 2015. If you are interested in joining us for our first seminar in Costa Rica in 2015, or simply want information about visiting Costa Rica, please contact us today.

Stay tuned for the next in the Nick Halverson Costa Rica video series.

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Jul 14

This is a short video that I put together using only photos and videos that I shot through my Google Glass. If you’re not sure what Google Glass, is take a look here. I’ll be making more of these short videos in the near future. Until then, PURA VIDA!

Pre-Columbian spheres of Costa Rica

Finca 6 in Palmar Norte is one of the four archeological sites in the Osa municipality in Costa Rica’s south Pacific that will be added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The decision was finalized early this morning during a meeting of the World Heritage Comittee in Qatar. The four spots — Finca 6, Grijalba 2, Batambal and El Silencio — are home to Costa Rica’s largest collections of pre-Colombian stone spheres, knows as the Diquís spheres. Discovered in the 1930s by the United Fruit Company, the spheres orgins and purpose have remained a mystery to archealogists for decades.

Lindsay Fendt/The Tico Times

From The Developer:

For anyone who has visited Costa Rica’s Osa region (Southern Pacific) it is likely that they saw at least a couple of pre-Columbian spheres of Costa Rica. What is less known, is that these spheres are only originally found in the Osa region. If you see a Pre-Columbian spheres of Costa Rica outside of the Osa region, it is completely out of place and has obviously been moved.

When these spheres were first discovered many were destroyed by those who found them as they were rumored to have gold in the center of them. There are fewer than twenty known spheres that have not been moved or disturbed from their original placement by some long gone indigenous group.

Finca 6 is only twenty minutes from Las Villas de San Buenas. We provide directions to our guests and clients. Contact us for more information.

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Jul 14

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Costa Rica Vacation Video (June 2014)

The following video compilation is from our most recent trip to Costa Rica (June 2014) when the rest of my family came to Las Villas de San Buenas. My kids absolutely love it here in Costa Rica. The highlights always include daily dips in the swimming pool, running and playing in the Pacific Ocean at Playa Ventanas and going horseback riding on the property.

Come on down and make your own memories here! Contact us today to let us help you plan your Costa Rica trip.

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Jul 14

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Foreign Investment in Costa Rica

Costa Rica has long been a common location for large multi-national corporations to find highly-educated, reliable employees. Recently, Cargill and IBM each opened up new facilities in the San Jose metro area increasing the foreign investment in Costa Rica in 2014.

Cargill to open Business Services Center in Costa Rica

Cargill, based in Minnesota, USA, is opening business services center that will provide technical support to thegroup’s 50 companies in the Americas in areas such as finance, information technologies, human resources, transportation and logistics. Costa Rica was chosen by Cargill over other locations in Argentina, Columbia, Panama and Mexico.

Cargill will hire staff with expertise in accounting, business administration, information technology and finance. Potential employees must be fluent in Spanish, English and Portuguese.

Cargill also spoke with representatives from other Fortune 500 companies that have operations in the co
untry, such as WalMart, Procter & Gamble and Citibank.

“Cargill conducted research and chose Costa Rica because it is the most effective and engaging location for us,” Cargill Central America President Bruce Burdett told El Financiero in an interview. “The final decision was based on the country’s political and economic situation, and the availability of a highly trained workforce with good levels of foreign languages.”

Cargill in 2011 acquired Costa Rica’s popular meat and poultry producer Pipasa Corporation and also represents animal food brands including Purina, Ascan, Mimados and Don Gato. This continued foreign investment in Costa Rica will increase their presence here in the country.

Founded in 1865, Cargill has 143,000 employees in 67 countries. It is a producer and marketer of food, agricultural, financial and industrial products and services.

IBM Opens IT Security Operations Center in Costa Rica

IBM celebrated its 10 year anniversary in Costa Rica with the opening of its latest Security Operations Center (SOC). Through an initial investment that includes infrastructure and education, the center will allow IBM to address the growing security needs of its clients in the region.

“We would like to thank IBM for its confidence to reinvest in an operation that will create more quality jobs for its citizens,” said Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis. “The announcement of a new IBM Security Operations Center reinforces the international image that Costa Rica is a strategic target for high-tech investments and is evidence of the commitment made since the first day of this government to dedicate ourselves to proactively executing a directive in favor of new, quality jobs—the main objective of our visit to the United States. This is a tribute to the quality of human talent in the region.”

With this new center, the first in Costa Rica, IBM adds to the existing services offered in the country including cloud , business analytics , project management, human resources, financial services and more. Open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the security center of operations team will monitor the latest security events experienced by IBM clients, assess their potential impact on the business and ensure that IBM clients’ infrastructure is configured to handle the latest threats. As a result of this analysis, IBM will help to protect people, data, applications, transactions and the infrastructure for all businesses in the region.

“Companies like IBM clearly demonstrate the evolution that the services industry is undergoing in Costa Rica as companies here move forward to manage more complex and sophisticated processes,” said the Minister of Foreign Trade, Alexander Mora. “This progress is made possible by the talent and skills of our country’s workforce. We are succeeding in creating new world linkages and providing more value that will help us bring more Costa Rican companies into the dynamics of world trade.”

Best Healthcare in the World

InternationalLiving.com’s annual Global Retirement Index reports that France, Uruguay and Malaysia provide the best and most affordable health care in the world.

The Health Care category in the Index considers the cost of care and the quality. Also considered are the number of people per doctor, the number of hospital beds per 1,000 people, the percentage of the population with access to safe water, the infant mortality rate, life expectancy, and public-health expenditure as a percentage of a country’s GDP.

France comes in first in this category as the best country in the world for health care. The Top 5 countries with the best healthcare in the world are as follows:

France

Uruguay

Malaysia

Costa Rica

Mexico

1. France

According to the World Health Organization, France has the number one health care system in the world. The country also comes first in the health care category of the InternationalLiving.com annual Global Retirement Index 2014. Despite their meat-and cream-rich diet augmented by alcohol and cigarettes, the French have been living much longer in recent years. Life expectancy now averages 85 years for women and 78 for men.

2. Uruguay

Uruguay has a variety of health care options available that include a public health care system for people who cannot afford to pay for private health care, a number of private health insurance options, and the most popular option, a hospital plan called a “mutualista.” Therefore Uruguay comes in second in the health care category of the InternationalLiving.com annual Global Retirement Index 2014. InternationalLiving.com’s Uruguay correspondent, David Hammond, who has lived in the country for seven years, says: “My personal experience with health care in Uruguay has been positive. The cost is a fraction of what I paid for private coverage in the U.S.”

3. Malaysia

Malaysia has gained fame as a medical-tourism destination because its health care is among the world’s best—and cheapest. Medical expertise here is equal to or better than that in most Western countries. Malaysia comes in third in the health care category of the InternationalLiving.com annual Global Retirement Index 2014. Despite the low cost of health care in Malaysia, many expats do get private health insurance. There is a plethora of national insurers, with no one company being preferred—expats tend to shop around and look for the cheapest offer.

4. Costa Rica

Hospital de Osa is located less than five minutes from Las Villas de San Buenas.

Costa Rica’s excellent and affordable health care is largely the result of government investment in the health sector, plus an atmosphere of political stability. Costa Rica comes in fourth in the health care category of the InternationalLiving.com annualGlobal Retirement Index 2014. By almost any standard, Costa Rica has some of the best health care in Latin America. Not only that, but the country’s public and private health systems are constantly being upgraded—new hospitals, new equipment, and improvements in staff training.

NOTE from Las Villas de San Buenas: One of Costa Rica’s newest hospitals is located just a couple of miles from Las Villas de San Buenas. This provides an extra layer of support and affordable healthcare options for our clients and guests.

5. Mexico

Given the galloping rise in health care costs in the U.S. and elsewhere, Mexico’s affordable and top-notch health care is a huge benefit to living there. Pretty much across the board, health care in Mexico costs a quarter to a half of what you would pay in the U.S. Mexico comes in fifth in the health care category of the InternationalLiving.com annual Global Retirement Index 2014. Medical insurance with Mexico’s national health care service costs less than $300 a year; private insurance will cost more, depending on age and pre-existing conditions—but still a fraction of what you’d pay in the U.S. for similar coverage. Photo: Glynna Prentice,InternationalLiving.com

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Jul 14

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We’ve been very busy here in the Osa region of Costa Rica the past couple of months. Growth continues to take place in the area from Uvita to Palmar Norte – come visit and find your piece of paradise today! Let us help plan your Costa Rica trip (home rentals, tours, etc). Contact us to assist you.

The big news the last week has been Costa Rica’s incredibly successful run in the World Cup. For those that follow futbol (soccer) here’s a nice recap.

Jun 14

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The following is Part 1 of a two part Osa, Costa Rica Update written by Cliff Hulbert. Cliff and his wife Ana own and operate Villa Leonor at the Ballena Beach Club. It is the only location in the Ballena National Park region that has a restaurant walking distance to the beach.

Villa Leonor is only 15 minutes from Las Villas de San Buenas and is a wonderful place to eat and to visit the beach.

We hope you enjoy it…..

The High Season came to a close with a clear increase of the awareness, discovery and visitors in the Ballena to Ojochal sector. We still are a fraction of the numbers that frequent long time favorites like Manuel Antonio and Arenal but our steady progress of growth in numbers and awareness has us coming up on the radar of travelers more and more frequently.

The Humpback Whales made an early appearance this season with regular encounters beginning by mid December and continuing through late March.

The Guava seed pod season attracted the White Face Monkeys again to leap from the nearest palm into the tree, cruise through the branches breaking open the pods and dropping the seeds on us after eating the sweet pulp around them.

Also an increase of arrivals by the Scarlet Macaws who would occasionally spend part of the day, one day in a group of eight, another day a pair was viewed flirting around various trees on the grounds.

The final event of the sea-son was the Oranje Trophy group of exocentric vehicles and fun lov-ing Dutch drivers on their 25,000 Km journey from New York City to Rio de Janeiro for the Futbol Mundial. The local Ojochal Team hosted a traditional Futbol en La Playa (Beach Soccer Game) with the Oranje group, the local boys prevailed; the Dutch Team seemed a bit sluggish, which they blamed on the altitude …but invited the victors to their Boca Buffet and drinks.

Now on to the Green Season, in many ways more pleasant than the Dry Season …. Come See Us at The Beach!